


Never Beat, Never Break

by withthekeyisking



Series: love you beyond reason why [2]
Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Assassin Dick Grayson, Assassination Plot(s), BAMF Dick Grayson, Batfamily (DCU) Feels, Bruce Wayne is Batman, Developing Relationship, Dick Grayson Has Issues, Explicit Sexual Content, Hurt/Comfort, Kidnapping, M/M, Past Abuse, Protective Bruce Wayne, Self-Esteem Issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-14 15:33:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29420910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/withthekeyisking/pseuds/withthekeyisking
Summary: Bruce has wanted Dick to stay with him and his family since the beginning, but now that he's actually at the Manor it's a bigger adjustment than he was expecting. Throw in the people hunting Dick down and the discomfort of his kids, and Bruce sure has a lot on his hands.Dick never thought he'd take Bruce up on his offer to stay. But it turns out when you're Public Enemy Number One, there's no better a place to hide out than with the Batman.
Relationships: Batfamily Members & Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne
Series: love you beyond reason why [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2100843
Comments: 34
Kudos: 184
Collections: BruDick Week 2021





	Never Beat, Never Break

**Author's Note:**

> Hello folks! This is my (late) fic for the 2021 Brudick Week. It will have 7 chapters, each corresponding to a day. This is also a sequel to [Beyond Reason Why](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27555856), which I definitely recommend you read before this XD
> 
> All that said, hope you enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day 1: Golden Age | **“You’re the best thing that happened to me.”** | Dom/Sub AU

Dick likes the Manor in the early hours of the morning.

It's quiet, and big, and empty. It makes him feel like the only person alive. With Bruce and all the others out patrolling, it's just Dick and Alfred, and Alfred is usually down in the cave or already off to bed. It leaves the entire place just to Dick.

He's mapped out the entire place by now, spending his time exploring and memorizing the place Bruce calls home. It's such a big place, every facet screaming wealth. The old kind of money that is impossible to ignore, that makes you cautious of touching anything lest you destroy something ancient and priceless. It's all fascinating, though. Dick's spent quite a lot of time standing in front of various paintings, admiring the clear history behind them.

It's nice, to stand in a large, silent, empty room, just him and the figures in the paintings. Not having to worry about bats or birds wandering in, looking at him with poorly concealed suspicion, trying to figure out what his game is. Trying to act like his presence doesn't bother them.

Maybe that's why he likes the empty manor so much. He doesn't have to pretend to be anything, doesn't have to put on a front. He doesn't have to be harmless or pleasant or easy-going. He can just exist, and not worry about all the ways he's troubling so many people.

Bruce would probably argue that he doesn't have to pretend to be anything, but Bruce doesn't understand. Bruce assumes that everything is going to settle, that his kids are going to adjust to having an assassin in their midst and Dick is going to adjust to staying still. To living with other people. To sharing his life.

Bruce's surety of it is charming, and sweet, and makes Dick feel gentle in a way no one else really can make him. But it also...hurts, because he doesn't know if he can ever quite be what the man wants him to be. Hell, he barely even _knows_ what Bruce wants.

He's here now, that's something he thinks Bruce wanted. He's not killing people, that was definitely a goal of Bruce's. The Batman shouldn't be with an assassin, after all. But past that...Dick doesn't quite know what Bruce wants from him. He keeps waiting for it, for the request, for Bruce to finally show what he's been after all along. What Dick can do for him.

And he'd...Dick would do it. That's the thing that really scares him, at the end of the day. Dick doesn't like being beholden to people; he followed his masters' orders because he had to, because they provided for him. He followed his clients' orders because he had to in order to get paid. But past that...

Past experience with Bruce says that the man won't demand payment for what he's done for Dick. But past experience can lie sometimes, when the game shifts. They're in entirely new waters now, with so many new pieces on the board, and Bruce would be well within his rights to ask Dick for something in return for letting him stay. In return for putting his family in danger.

Dick hasn't explained, and Bruce hasn't asked, but him being here _does_ put them in danger. The Batman is a good deterrent, and Dick is safer here than anywhere else, but the enemies he's made...they won't sit idle forever. They won't be content to just let him go. And after what he did...

There are quite a few people who would like to see him pay. And him being here just puts targets on all their backs.

But Dick is selfish. He didn't want to run anymore, he just wanted to feel _safe._ And when he thought of safety, he thought of Bruce.

Dick's been at the Manor for two weeks now, and he doesn't know if he quite feels safe yet, but being with Bruce is...good. Bruce is _good._ And maybe this will all explode in his face, maybe Bruce will ask for more than Dick can give, but for now...

For now, everything is—fine. Just fine. It'll be fine.

Dick walks through the empty halls towards the kitchen, fingers trailing over the ancient wallpaper. He makes himself a mug of hot cocoa, breathing in the rich scent of the expensive stuff that Bruce has stocked. Dick doubts Bruce even realizes all of the things in his kitchen are this high quality, that normal people don't have hot chocolate this good on the regular. Dick hasn't checked the prices, but he knows it's extraordinarily higher than regular.

Not that Dick has any ground to stand on, really. He's spent a majority of his life with money, though that was money he earned. When you're one of the best at what you do, you can charge quite a lot for your services. Dick has quite a lot of money saved up, some of it stashed in a few go-bags placed through the Manor. He didn't drink the cheap stuff if he could help it, either.

But, unlike Bruce, he knows what it's like to have nothing. They weren't exactly rolling in dough at the circus, and then after...

Well, he went through a lot of shit after his parents died. A lot that he'd rather not think about.

He sits down on the small bench in front of the kitchen window, looking out into the darkness of the Manor's back grounds. The moon is bright in the sky, and Dick admires the gardens, the roses that still bloom because they were Martha Wayne's favorites and Bruce can't bear to see them gone. Dick's helped Alfred a few times; he likes the simplicity of gardening, and it gives him something to do.

That's one of those things Bruce has been decidedly not-pressing about. What Dick's going to do now. They've been living in a sort of limbo so far, with Dick never leaving the Manor, simply training on the grounds and reading his way through the library and occupying himself with whatever he can find.

He feels kind of like a kept boy, honestly, though he knows Bruce would be appalled at that idea. It's a prison of Dick's own making, anyway, so he really shouldn't complain. Bruce is cautious about giving him free rein, but he'd never stop Dick from going out if he wanted to. He wants Dick to...be happy, or something. He's waiting for Dick to make a decision, Dick knows. Dick is simply pretending that he doesn't know Bruce is waiting, and Bruce won't bring it up, so in limbo they remain.

Part of Dick feels guilty for taking advantage of Bruce's hesitance, how the older man is still worried about saying the wrong thing and driving Dick away. He's so... _good_ like that, and Dick is awful for using it. He knows he's not going anywhere, and making Bruce think he might is cruel.

But still, he says nothing. He can't. And he never claimed to be a good person, anyway.

There's a faint noise from the hallway, and Dick turns his head in time to see Tim round the corner, entering the kitchen. The boy freezes when he spots Dick sitting there, and Dick offers him a practiced, warm smile. Tim attempts a smile in return, but it comes off far more stilted than Dick's own.

Dick pretends like there's nothing amiss at all. "There's some more hot chocolate if you'd like it," he says. "Should still be warm."

"Thanks," Tim says awkwardly, and to Dick's surprise he _does_ take him up on the offer, grabbing a mug from the cabinet and then going over to where the pot still sits on the stove, pouring himself some.

It is pure instinct that has Dick scanning Tim. No signs of weapons under the Superboy pajamas he wears, hunching slightly to the right indicative of bruised or cracked ribs. Exhausted, going off of the way his eyelids drag when he blinks. Not really a threat at all right now; if a fight were to happen, Dick would have him on the ground unconscious in two strikes.

There's not going to be a fight, though. And he doesn't have to catalogue them for the chance of it every time he sees them. It's just second nature by this point, wound so deeply down inside of himself that trying to stop himself from noticing takes longer than taking it all in does.

The silence that falls over the pair of them as they drink is uncomfortable, and not even slightly unfamiliar. This is how the past two weeks have gone, whenever he's in the same room as Bruce's kids. They're... _trying,_ making an effort for Bruce, but he doesn't fault them for their anger or suspicion. These are people that he's fought multiple times in the past. He knows what it feels like to punch Tim, to take him down. He knows it with basically all of them.

Things like that—they're hard to get over. Especially when the assassin who was your enemy only a little while ago is living in your home, sleeping in your father's bed. The fact that none of them have actually picked a fight so far is a miracle. Dick had been expecting far more than the minor threats he'd received.

(It had been from Jason on Dick's second night at the Manor. The Red Hood had informed Dick in no uncertain terms that if he was up to anything, if he was here to hurt them or hurt Bruce, then he would find himself waking up with a gun to the face, and then never waking up again.

It had been a pretty good threat, actually, emphasized by the presence of multiple weapons that Jason is very accomplished with. And he'd agreed without hesitation, which Jason understandably hadn't believed, even though for once Dick was actually telling the truth.)

"Well," Tim says awkwardly. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Dick echoes, and listens to the boy's footsteps until they fade.

If they're back from patrol, then Bruce will probably be up soon. He usually stays in the cave longer than the others, preferring to write up his reports immediately and at the actual batcomputer. There have been a couple times that Dick's had to go down to get him and bring him up to bed, the workaholic entrenching himself in some matter or another, but overall he's been pretty good about doing his report, showering, and then heading up.

Dick gets up from where he sits and starts to clean up. He prefers being in the bedroom when Bruce returns, because if he's not then Bruce goes searching for him, and that detracts from sleep that the man desperately needs. If Dick doesn't feel like sleeping as well then he sneaks out after Bruce is dead to the world.

The bedroom is empty when he arrives, and remains so. Dick gives it half an hour before he sighs and climbs back out of bed, heading down the stairs and back through the quiet Manor until he reaches Bruce's study and the entrance to the batcave.

Long before coming to stay here, Dick snuck into Batman's base of operations. He'd been curious about it and hadn't been able to resist, breaking through the defenses and then giving himself a tour while Bruce was out on patrol. They'd only been sleeping together a few months, and Dick had been testing the boundaries.

He still doesn't know if Bruce knows he did that, actually. He'd been out of the cave and up in Bruce's bed by the time the man returned, and had erased any evidence of his presence being anywhere but the bedroom. He never mentioned having been there, and Bruce never brought it up.

Then again, Bruce _also_ hasn't tried to offer him a tour of the place since Dick has moved in, just granted him access, so maybe Bruce is aware that Dick's already explored. If he is, then clearly he doesn't have a problem with it.

That thought makes something weirdly warm grow in Dick's chest, and he ignores it, very practiced at doing so.

He finds Bruce exactly where he expected, parked in front of the batcomputer, fingers typing lightning fast, eyes glued to the screen. Dick only gives it a cursory glance, honestly not caring about whatever case Bruce is working on, and steps up behind the man, bending slightly over the chair and wrapping his arms around Bruce's shoulders.

Bruce doesn't jump, he's too well trained for that, but the way his fingers still momentarily betrays his surprise.

"Hey," Dick greets softly, resting his chin on Bruce's shoulder. Bruce is just in sweats and a t-shirt, hair damp from a shower. It makes all of this easier, that's for sure. No batsuit to work around; he can just drag Bruce right up to bed.

"Shouldn't you be asleep?" Bruce replies, as if Dick is ever asleep before he returns.

Dick hums thoughtfully. "Funny," he says. "I was just about to say the same thing to you."

"I need to finish this."

Dick glances at the screen, lips quirking wryly. _Finish_ he says, as if he's in any way close to done. Looks like he's just started on something new, something that could have him sitting right in this spot for hours more. Not a chance.

"Come on, Detective," Dick says, dismissing the way Bruce's face twitches at the address. "Time for bed. You can work on this in the morning."

Bruce hesitates, then looks at him. His eyes flick over Dick's face, analytic and searching in a way Dick is oh so familiar with, and then gives a small nod. Dick doesn't ask what he was looking for, what he saw. Instead he smiles in approval and draws back to let Bruce stand, the man shutting down the computer as he does so before turning for the stairs.

"The others head out?" Bruce asks, eyes flicking around the cave.

Dick nods, though that's really just an assumption since he hasn't seen anyone but Tim. The only ones who live at the Manor with Bruce are Tim, Cassandra, and Damian, and he can only assume the other two went upstairs to bed. But telling Bruce right now that he doesn't know will only make the man want to check in with everyone, which is counterproductive to Dick's current goal, so instead he stays silent.

Walking with Bruce through the Manor is...comfortable. Being around Bruce always makes him feel that, to some degree or another. Bruce is—easy, to be around. He knows Bruce doesn't have that reputation, that many consider Batman to be difficult, but he's honestly one of the most straightforward people Dick's ever met. Hard to read sometimes, yes, but not a liar. Never a liar.

He's someone Dick understands, and even if Bruce doesn't completely understand him in turn, he gets far closer than most do. Dick is good with people, good at figuring out what makes them tick and molding himself to be what they need him to be. But he's never quite managed that with Bruce, never been able to bring himself to go that far.

Maybe there are simply too many emotions in the way of Dick shaving off his rougher edges. He doesn't want to know what Bruce would do, if Dick was suddenly easy and perfect. He doesn't want to know if Bruce would be happier with Dick not being himself. Far better to put up the walls between them than to be loved for something he's not.

He gets enough of that from his honeypot missions—he doesn't want it with someone he...cares about.

"Are you alright?" Bruce asks once they're lying in bed, Dick's face tucked into the curve of his neck, one of Bruce's arms wrapped around his back. It's easier for Dick to accept this kind of easy affection when it's dark, easier to pretend it never happened at all, he was never weak enough to crave it. Things are always so much more complicated in the light of day.

"Of course," Dick murmurs, wondering what gave his rumination away. Bruce surprises him sometimes, with how observant he is. Dick _knows_ that Batman is one of the best, but Dick prides himself on being better. Letting Bruce see him as much as he has—it's sloppy.

"Okay," Bruce says, but Dick can feel that he wants to press. He wants to ask, wants to _help._ He has so much love in his heart, always; Dick doesn't understand how people can call Bruce uncaring. He's a bleeding heart, for everyone and everything all the time.

"You know," Dick says, throat thick as the honestly comes out of him without his full permission, "I think you're the best thing that's happened to me."

There are two beats of silence, Bruce's surprise obvious even without looking at him. Dick doesn't say things like this. He isn't so open with his heart, isn't so truthful when it comes to what he feels. Bruce probably knows more of his secrets than anyone in the world, stories Dick has whispered against his skin in the middle of the night, but declarations like this—Dick simply doesn't do them.

"You know," Bruce says, voice far too gentle, a knife straight through Dick's very being, "I think that's my line." Dick squeezes his eyes shut. "You and my kids..." Lips brush gentle over the crown of his head. "Well, I don't know where I'd be."

Dick doesn't say, _Probably far better off without me,_ because Bruce would argue the point and Dick doesn't want to argue. Being self-deprecating is lame anyway.

"Goodnight," Dick whispers, closing the conversation far more obviously than he usually would.

Bruce's arm tightens around him slightly. "Goodnight," he echoes.

* * *

Dick likes Alfred.

The man is simply so... _proper,_ and kind. But his gentleness doesn't rub the wrong way like Bruce's can sometimes. No, Alfred is just like that; getting close to him feels so natural. He also is the only person in the Manor who's never treated Dick oddly or with suspicion. From the very first moment, he acted like Dick's presence was normal, like there wasn't anything strange about having an accomplished assassin living under his roof, in close quarters with his charges.

He invites Dick to assist him in cooking, doesn't look at him strangely when Dick helps with various chores, talks to him like he talks to everyone else. Dick _feels_ normal when he's hanging out with Alfred, something Dick hasn't felt since he was nine years old.

Maybe that's why, when Alfred informs him that he's going to the store for groceries, Dick invites himself along.

Alfred raises a brow in surprise—this will be the first time Dick's made any effort to leave the Manor—and then nods his acceptance, informing him that, "You will be carrying the bags, young man," and making Dick snort.

Bruce looks stunned for all of two seconds when he's told what's happening, and then tells them goodbye, very poorly hiding the happiness he clearly feels at Dick taking the initiative to get out.

It's definitely...strange, to leave. He feels on edge, fingering the knife in his pocket. There are so many more variables out here, so many more possible threats. The Manor is like a fortress, a million security measures in place. If anyone were to come knocking, they'd know. Attackers would have a hell of a hard time getting in, let alone what they'd find once actually inside.

But this is simply _Gotham,_ and Dick is on his own with someone he'd like to protect. That makes him vulnerable, weak. An easy target, if anyone is waiting.

It could all be paranoia, really. After...what happened, they could simply want nothing to do with him anymore. There isn't necessarily anyone coming after him; they might've written him off as a lost cause, as not worth the time. Might decide he's not worth the effort, now that he's with Bruce. They might write him off as a lost cause. It's possible, it could happen.

It's just...very, _very_ unlikely.

He does his best to push it from his mind, though. He engages in the idle chatter Alfred begins, offering up some teasing that makes Alfred's lips quirk upward.

Dick genuinely can't remember the last time he was in a grocery store. Whenever he was out in the world on his own, he simply ordered groceries or take-out. Frankly Dick hasn't had a lot of normal socialization like this, something as simple as going to a store and seeing other people. He finds that he...likes it. He likes watching Alfred examine fruit for the freshest ones, likes seeing the methods of picking out the best cuts of meat, the simplicity of going down a list and getting what everyone has requested.

It's so... _normal,_ so ordinary. It's far more enjoyable than Dick expected it to be.

They're in the cereal aisle getting something for Cassandra when Alfred asks, "How do you feel you are settling in, Richard?"

Dick asked Alfred on the first day of living in the Manor to not call him 'master'. Alfred had accepted it immediately, hadn't pressed for any information, and hasn't slipped once. Dick is horribly grateful for it. He could've handled it if Alfred pushed back, if he wanted to stick to the proper manners, but it would've been...uncomfortable, in a unique way. He's just—glad he doesn't have to deal with that. It makes being at the Manor the slightest bit easier.

"Fine," Dick replies flippantly, but continues with, "It's an adjustment for sure, and I think it'll take a while for us all to get used to the new status quo, but. But it's fine."

It's far easier, Dick finds, to be open with Alfred than with almost anyone else.

Alfred hums. "Your efforts do not go unnoticed, Richard. I hope you know that."

Dick looks at him in surprise. Alfred looks back placidly before continuing on down the aisle.

They remain in companionable silence for another minute or so before Alfred says, "Master Damian has expressed some interest in training with you. Of course, he worded it like a challenge and _duel,_ but the sentiment was there."

Something twists in Dick's gut. Damian is...his history with Damian is—unique. He knew the boy when he was a small child, spent quite a bit of time around him. Things...happened that pulled Dick away from being part of the boy's life, but Dick always carried a bit of fondness for him. He doesn't know if Damian understands what happened, or if he does what he _thinks_ of it, but he's never said anything to Dick about it. Has barely said a single word to him, in fact, since Dick began living at the Manor.

But mentioning to Alfred that he wants to spend time with Dick? That's...good, isn't it? He thinks it's good. He wonders what Bruce would think of it.

Dick simply hums an acknowledgement in reply, unsure quite what to say, and Alfred side-eyes him but doesn't press him for anything more.

It's then that Dick feels it, an itch at the edge of his awareness. Someone's watching them.

Dick glances around casually, hand tightening around the blade in his pocket and taking stock of all the other weapons currently on his person. A public place like this is just about the worst place to get into a fight, but if all that's happening so far is being watched, then maybe whoever it is isn't interested in drawing that much attention, either. Unfortunately, that doesn't narrow it down at all.

Something shifts, and Dick narrows in on it immediately, eyes widening when he sees who it is. He glances at Alfred briefly, then pretends to wander over to look at the giant array of candy, waiting until Alfred's turned his attention elsewhere, already moving on, before he strides across the store to where the man waits for him.

"Grayson," Tiger greets, inclining his head slightly.

Dick offers the same respect, but doesn't loosen his grip on his weapon just yet. The last time he saw Tiger they left things on good terms, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. Allegiances can shift so quickly in the world they live in, and it isn't outside the realm of possibility that Tiger picked up a contract on him. Probably wouldn't go for a lethal one, but one to bring him in? He might.

"What are you doing here, Tiger?" Dick asks, eyes flicking around for any signs of backup. Not that he expects any, really. Tiger likes working alone, and wouldn't do Dick the disservice of an ambush. It's simply not his style.

"Warning you," Tiger says bluntly. "There's a price on your head, Grayson. The protection you had before—it's gone. And there are quite a few people who want you dead."

Dick squints away from him, digesting that. He'd known, of _course_ he'd known. But it...there had still been a chance. And the threat was so much more of an abstract thing before—now it is far, _far_ too real.

"The price," Dick says. "Is it just for me dead?"

Tiger sighs through his nose. "There are those who want you brought to them," he says, with some level of distaste that Dick can't help but feel fond about. "But the ones who want you dead—frankly, they'd be more merciful. A better end, if you ask me."

Dick doesn't doubt it for a second.

"Thank you," Dick says, offering the other man a smile. He and Tiger aren't friends—Dick's never really had friends, not after the circus—but they respect each other, and Dick appreciates him coming to tell him this. He certainly didn't have to. "Really, I appreciate you coming."

Tiger grunts, nodding sharply. "Take care of yourself, Grayson."

"Ah, no promises," Dick shoots back with a smirk, the expression growing when Tiger rolls his eyes.

The spy vanishes as quickly as he appeared, and Dick takes a moment to close his eyes and breathe, swallowing back the sour panic that wants to explode. He forces his body to listen to him, to look perfectly calm, and then goes and grabs a random bag of candy before heading off to seek out Alfred.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title from [Hello My Old Heart](https://genius.com/The-oh-hellos-hello-my-old-heart-lyrics) by The Oh Hellos, which is a very fitting song for Dick's growth in this fic.
> 
> Lmk your thoughts!


End file.
